End Times of the Elves -- Vote & Discussion

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Favourite End Times of the Elves Tale? (1 vote per member, no revoting)

Poll ended at Fri Jan 02, 2015 12:14 am

Thraundil -- Tides of Blood
3
18%
Ming -- Uriel Whitehand
1
6%
Vincean -- Vaik vs the Assassin
0
No votes
Makiwara -- Vali, Prince of The False Face
1
6%
Lord Drakon -- The last march of the Khainites
1
6%
Haagrum -- The Sister Unmasked
2
12%
Scythe -- Ecator Scythe
1
6%
T.D. -- The choice of the 1st Battalion Naggarond
2
12%
flatworldsedge -- The lesson of Naggaroth
5
29%
Marchosias -- The mourning wife
1
6%
 
Total votes: 17

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End Times of the Elves -- Vote & Discussion

Post by T.D. »

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VOTE NOW FOR YOUR FAVOURED END TIMES: KHAINE TALE!

Thanks all entrants to the End Times of the Elves Competition :D

Khaine is pleased with the blood spilt in his honour :twisted:


-> This is the place to discuss and comment on the entries.

D.net members please vote to thank the storytellers for their tidings of the Apocalypse! Voting closes on 1st Jan 2015.
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Re: End Times of the Elves -- Vote & Discussion

Post by Lord Drakon »

All great stories ! I prefer the shorter stories, so ming and syloc were my favourites.
Ming won my vote for the fact that his story was the shortest while very decise and powerful. I based it on how the story will fit in our new Elven Legion army book
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Re: End Times of the Elves -- Vote & Discussion

Post by flatworldsedge »

Really tough call... Great fun reading all entries. Guilty of one myself, and subjected to the rigours of Transport For London's shockingly poor infrastructure, I lent towards the longer pieces. They made my commute a lot more interesting over the last couple of weeks! It was interesting seeing how the ruthless purge of characters wasn't limited to GW alone, with a few entires seemingly putting their own protagonists to the sword. I particularly liked that angle in Vincean's with the slightly crueler drama of his demise. I enjoyed the rhetoric and debate in TD's (and, BTW, thought the colour coding was inspired as a way if making it user friendly). Marchosias husband/wife device was cool, and I liked the way it led to the reveal. Some awesome cultural details and "living in the world" depth to Makiwara's at the start, and I love the ending's portrait of Malekith's four dimensional vision. Meanwhile Thraundil's had a wonderfully rich drama, and Haagrum's stood out for the way it brought to life the journey Malendris had taken, from one choice to another; some epic scenes deftly captured in well judged words.
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Re: End Times of the Elves -- Vote & Discussion

Post by Calisson »

Thraundil dared to write first - this deserves a bonus already. He was skillful enough to write impressively fast.
More importantly, he set a very high standard for all who would follow - so high that I was deterred, and was likely not to be the only one!
When I read what followed, I was glad to be deterred by Thraundil, for I would have been very likely to get the worst appreciation...

Ming dared to write in a foreign language, and managed to write very quickly in a perfect English, needing no later edit.
Possibly, the story was not as entertaining as most other, but he managed to keep it quick and efficient.

Vincean registered and posted his single post ever. Compliments!
Nice story, too, and the outcome is romantically desperate.

For Makiwara, it was the second post - and the good point was that more posts were to follow! :D
There is a distinctive Athel Loren scent in his story. He was the first obvious outer guest to dare come and challenge the druchii storytellers.
The canons of End Times are perfectly respected. Thanks for a good story!

Lord Drakon added pics, smart move. A quick story, thank you. A great story, mixing personal army fluff with End Times canon.

Haagrum provided a finely chosen illustration, too. The story mixed greatly a view from one of his beloved unit - Sisters, such a great choice! - with End Times fluff.

Scythe made a sailor's story! Great storytelling, perfectly matching the End Times, with an unexpected end. Loved.

T.D. made a very long story. A good thing that the color codes helped the reading. A great nostalgic reading if any! Then an unexpected story, well in the good ol' Druchii spirit!

Flatworldsedge treated us with a nice looking pic. The story starts a little bit confusing, but there is perceiveable logics behind. And what a special Druchii love from a daughter to her father!

Marchosias ended the competition with a quick story sent at the very last minute. A desperate story, which is not easy to link with the official fluff, though. But I love the bonus.

-=-=-

Overall, immense merits everywhere. The mandatory single choice is very hard to make.
Scythe, Makiwara, Thraundil have in my eyes a small edge over the other excellent and very enjoyable stories.
I'll pick up Thraundil for the resons explained above, but I regret not to have at least three choices to express.

Kudos to all of you! :D
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Re: End Times of the Elves -- Vote & Discussion

Post by Makiwara »

Thank you to both flatworldedge and Calisson for your compliments guys, they're absolutely humbling. I have to admit that I pretty much joined the forum because of the End Times and this competition, though I've lurked in the painting and modelling forum since my return to the hobby.

What is absolutely great about this forum is the level of creativity I see; the fluff here is inspiring and that is rare. I love flatworldedge's explanation of a god as an ideal, a process, resonates deeply with my ideas towards a pantheon and the characters guys are putting forth make me want to write confrontations, deals, collaborations and conflicts with them all. In short, it inspires me to lift my game in the hobby.

So my thanks to everyone; steel sharpens steel and you ruthless Druchii bastards are fine blades indeed!
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Re: End Times of the Elves -- Vote & Discussion

Post by Haagrum »

Excellent entries, one and all. Particular congratulations to authors writing in a second language. I know from experience how difficult that can be when you're trying to use idioms and particular concepts which may not have a direct translation.

As Calisson noted, it was hard choosing just one story to vote for - however, my two favourites were from Scythe (I love a good Corsair story) and flatworldsedge (long, but powerfully written and so descriptive).

Congratulations one and all!
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Re: End Times of the Elves -- Vote & Discussion

Post by Marchosias »

Congratulations to everyone who wrote something. This competition is on a far, far higher level than the past ones - some really good reading here!

Thraundil, Ming, Vincean, Drakon, Haagrum and Scythe wrote nice action flicks. From those six I especially like the work of Vincean - it is small, compact, easy to follow, with a perfect atmosphere.

However, in the stories I read I always look for something more than a tense story, something deeper. And there are entries that provide this.

T.D., I really like the atmosphere of the first part of your story, where your writing style resembles both the lightning and the drill of the soldiers. I really like the second part, too: the end of an entire civilization (or maybe three civilizations actually) is a damn powerful theme and you make the reader think about this. The ending does not feel that powerful, though, and there is strong competition here. The first parts convinced me, however, that you have everything it takes to win.

Makiwara, your writing style is as clean and easy to read as one could wish. What I want to specifically mention, however, is how you managed to evolve the conflict between Khaine and Asuryan. In your story, it is not about two armies clashing, it is about beliefs and the whole way of life. This, in my eyes, makes the story powerful. Malekith and Tyrion are just fictional characters but the concepts represented by Khaine and Asuryan have a meaning in our world, too.

flatworldsedge, hat off to your courage - a story with a structure this complex is not easy to write. While it is sometimes difficult to follow what is going on, I understand it as an intention, because in the beginning we only get memories of a tortured elf. And I really like how the two scenes reflect each other, the one with marauders and the one with torturers. Moreover, I like how you, similarly to Makiwara, grasped Khaine as a concept - again, it is something the reader can think about. The whole feels extremely well thought-out.
One more thing: you managed to write Veysha as a person, with complex personality and different kinds of feelings. This is more than most of us, if not all of us, managed to achieve. Congratulations on this part, too.

And for this complex and masterfully handled composition, my vote goes to flatworldsedge. Hope you win this in the end. :)
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Re: End Times of the Elves -- Vote & Discussion

Post by Thraundil »

Thanks for the votes guys =) 2/9 is a pretty good score considering the very high quality of the entries ^^ (its possible to vote for your own story, by the way - but I naturally have not done this)

The two top contenders for me are flatworldsedge and T.D. since both stories contain rich dialogue and really builds the main character. The final choice is flatworldsedge, though, simply because I feel like his 'protagonist' is just so sick and twisted, and a true worshipper of Khaine. T.D.'s protagonist, in my humblest opinion, is not a true Khainite. A Khainite does not hide behind false pretense - he or she kills when there is killing to be found, and while I highly approve of betraying high elves, I just do not understand why the betrayal was not enacted much sooner.

Could the mods maybe put this vote onto the front page, so everyone gets to see the post? Not a lot of votes in so far :)
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Re: End Times of the Elves -- Vote & Discussion

Post by flatworldsedge »

Thanks everyone for the kind notes above - very flattering to be mentioned in comments among great competition. Very exciting to see how things unfold over the next day and a bit!

Thraundil wrote:...its possible to vote for your own story, by the way - but I naturally have not done this...


Lol - I noticed this too, and likewise refrained from doing so. In fact, it appears from the comments that none of us have taken advantage of the opportunity! I'm waiting to see if we all get hit with a penalty for acting "out of character"; playing fair, after all, is hardly a Druchii trait! All sorts of strange things going on in these End Times.
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Re: End Times of the Elves -- Vote & Discussion

Post by Calisson »

Thraundil wrote:Could the mods maybe put this vote onto the front page, so everyone gets to see the post? Not a lot of votes in so far :)
Good idea, we should have done it before.
(in case of a draw it might tilt the result in your favour ;))
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Re: End Times of the Elves -- Vote & Discussion

Post by Thraundil »

Aargh, flatworldsedge is pulling ahead of me! This will not stand! I retract my vote and put it on myself, evening the score to a 3-3 :P

In all seriousness though. Prepare to have your house invaded by my shade clan. Numerous assassins are amongst their numbers.
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Re: End Times of the Elves -- Vote & Discussion

Post by flatworldsedge »

@Thraundil - Oh, those were your Shades camped at the bottom of the garden. We were wondering who had sent them, that we might send a note by way of seasonal thanks. The assassins were rather poor eating, in all honesty, but their addition did at least bring some sport to the roundup. Very much appreciate the festive offering, nonetheless, and we shall be sure to send something in reciprocate... Especially seeing you close the gap... :) Going to the wire this one!
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Re: End Times of the Elves -- Vote & Discussion

Post by T.D. »

Well, well, well.

I didn't actually read any of the entries until I locked the thread.

On one hand I was disappointed we only had ten entries.

But on the other hand, I was blown away by the quality of the short stories! Beginning from Thraundil's very high bar :shock: ...which probably discouraged a few more than Calisson!

Thraundil -- Tides of Blood

Entrancing story, that draws in the reader and finishes wonderfully:

KILL! KILL! BLOOD! KILL!


I've always thought that the "living quality" of battlefield events was a rich seam not often mined by storytellers, and I really liked the way you've done it! IMO the most fun story of the comp.

Ming -- Uriel Whitehand

Short and sweet entry :mrgreen:
I really liked it; entries don't have to be long to be fun. And yours was both short and very Druchii!

Vincean -- Vaik vs the Assassin

For a first Warhammer themed story this is impressive!

Another tale that draws the reader in to the world presented. Bravo :D

Makiwara

A wonderful entry.

This "End Times: Khaine" Competition was a great opportunity to spin ones own fluff into the official GW narrative. It was cool to see so many doing this, and your Asrai flavoured tale is a stand-out.

Of all the entries I think this has the best balance of writing quality, plotting quality and length.

Lord Drakon -- The last march of the Khainites

An entry which captures the spirit of your force and their defiance.

Fits well into your fluff :)

Haagrum -- The Sister Unmasked

Another classic entry from our multi-award winner 8)

Really enjoyed Malendris' tale, and your stories have forced everyone to raise their game around here :mrgreen:

Scythe -- Ecator Scythe

Another good one, which combines the end times with the characterisation of your fluff force.

I liked the mix of description, diagloue and sudden action.

flatworldsedge -- The lesson of Naggaroth

Please pass on my regards to Ms Jemma Funge if you are ever working with her again. A very charismatic model.
(Not sure if she'd want to be associated with your tale though :P )

Also thanks for the chance to browse your portfolio. Do you just go around taking pictures of people? Very nice portraits :D

As for the story - it reminded me of reading Joyce. Most of the time I was confused ...but it was worth it for those times when your brush strokes of words came suddenly together to create an Impressionist holo-movement in the mind :shock:

Very ambitious ... & very successful ;)

Marchosias -- The mourning wife

Image

Awesomely near the cut entry. You were posting as I was locking :mrgreen:

Enjoyed the tale of sundered lovers in a time of peril 8)



Thanks to everyone who entered. I appreciated every single one.

When it comes to voting for a winner, there are four stand outs that I basically can't choose apart. Whichever one I happen to be reading is my favourite :)

Thraundil's tale (Danish -> English kudos :) ), Haagrum's and Makiwara's tales (Australian -> English kudos :P) and flatworldsedge's tale are all exceptional.

I've said it before that those of you who are talented writers should really continue to cultivate the ability. With the ease of publishing through the various electronic platforms, as well as cheap wordpress websites, and free Google+ and Facebook, today really is a time of incredible opportunity for writers. The author of Fifty Shades of Grey is famously not particularly skilled, but she wrote what she enjoyed (Twilight Fan Fiction re-titled) and became very successful with it. If you enjoy writing (and by you I mean not only all of the Competition entrants, but everyone reading this) then continue to practice and share and you never know what might happen.

Talent exists to be used :D

Because I am forced to choose my vote goes to:

...the most self-indulgent but also most ambitious entry. Which I believe required the most concentrated thought to produce;

The lesson of Naggaroth by flatworldsedge :)
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Re: End Times of the Elves -- Vote & Discussion

Post by Scythe »

I agree with everything that's been said about the quality of entries - the creativity of folks here seems to always be a lovely surprise when these story competitions pop up (though I suppose I will no longer be surprised from now on)!

As has also been noted, it's also a great motivation to develop army fluff, which is an aspect of the hobby that I love, but don't make time for outside of mediums like this. So, I was happy to participate for that reason alone. That someone out there enjoyed reading my entry enough to vote for it is a wonderful bonus - thanks!

I'm not nearly ambitious enough to discuss every story, but I will say that I enjoyed them all, and that even if I suspected otherwise at first glance, the long ones were entrancing enough that I read through them in their entirety! Indeed, they ended up being my favourite entries.

In the end, I had to make a difficult choice make between Makiwara and flatworldsedge, as both entries really impressed me with their evocative style, structure of theme and narrative, and (something I really struggle with) masterful handling of dialogue. Both were very entertaining, but I thought one had a bit more psychological depth - congrats flatworldsedge!
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Re: End Times of the Elves -- Vote & Discussion

Post by T.D. »

Congratulations to our worthy winner, flatworldsedge!

And our "alternative winner", Vincean :P

(Your story was really good by the way; it's just that Druchii competition is cutthroat in all meanings of the term :twisted: )

Concluding Post Here: http://www.druchii.net/viewtopic.php?p=917385#p917385
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Re: End Times of the Elves -- Vote & Discussion

Post by Amboadine »

Congratulations to all involved. The standard for this competition was staggeringly good.
Very impressed by all entries.
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Re: End Times of the Elves -- Vote & Discussion

Post by flatworldsedge »

Wow - thanks everyone who took the time to read what TD rightly identifies as a somewhat self indulgent exercise on my part! Some super pieces, and very flattering indeed to be thought of well amongst them!
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Re: End Times of the Elves -- Vote & Discussion

Post by T.D. »

Self-indulgent in a good way :) Some beautiful imagery amidst the creative storyline.

Veysha's feat was indeed worthy of your new title :twisted:
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